A 33-year-old financial analyst in California recently quit his job to devote himself to an unpaid job teaching math on the Internet, and his lessons are reaching almost 100,000 people a month. Salman Khan’s voice is heard every day on the net — by tens of thousands of students around the world who are hungry for help learning math. He has posted 1,200 lessons on You Tube —lessons that appear on an electronic blackboard, which range from basic addition to advanced mathematics for science and finance. And they are free.
Khan lives in Silicon Valley, with his wife, a doctor, and their new baby. He got the idea for his “Khan Academy” four years ago, when he taught a young cousin how to convert kilograms to grams. With Khan’s help, the cousin got good at math, and Khan began a new career.
Now, Khan records his lessons himself, but he never goes on camera. “It feels like my voice in their head. You’re looking at it and it feels like someone’s over your shoulder talking in your ear, as opposed to someone at the blackboard, which is distant from you,” he said.
When Springfield High School in Palo Alto, California invited Khan to speak in person—he immediately connected to the students there.
The idea of short lessons that can be played over and over again attracted high school senior Bridget Meaney. She says she had trouble with math in the seventh grade. “I think the teachers are good, but they can’t teach at a speed that’s perfect for everyone,” she said. “I like the idea of learning something in class but then going back and pressing pause or rewind and actually getting a deeper understanding of it.”
Originally, Khan kept his lessons short because of YouTube restrictions. Now, he thinks short is better. “Education researchers now tell me that 10 minutes is how long someone can have a high level of concentration. And anything beyond that and your brain switches off,” he said.
For Khan, teaching math, science, and finance is just the beginning. He says he’s ready to expand his YouTube site to include other subjects as well.
1.What gave Khan the idea of teaching math online?
A．His success in helping his cousin learn math.
B．His discovery that many students found learning math difficult.
C．A suggestion made to him at a local high school.
D．His interest in Internet teaching.
2.Why does Khan never go on camera?
A．He’s too shy to show his face on camera.
B．It’s restricted by YouTube for education videos.
C．He wants to keep distance from the viewers.
D．He wants to create a more relaxed learning atmosphere.
3.From the passage, we know that ________.
A．Khan travels to many schools to promote his lessons
B．Khan plans to include more subjects in the future
C．Khan gives live math lessons every day for free
D．Khan set up the Khan Academy with his wife
4.Why does Bridget Meaney like Khan’s lessons?
A．Khan teaches seventh grade math better than her teacher.
B．The lessons can be watched repeatedly until fully understood.
C．She can perfectly follow the pace of Khan’s teaching.
D．She cannot concentrate when learning in class.
5.What does Khan mean by “short is better” in the 6th paragraph?
A．Keeping the lessons short can ensure better concentration.
B．YouTube recommends short lessons for its site.
C．Short lessons encourage students to return to the website.
D．Students enjoy short mathematics lessons more.
These days, young children can enjoy directly what it is like to be a marine biologist (海洋生物学家) at a marine association. What they discover can lead them to appreciate and protect the ocean and also the animals living in it.
At the present time, learning isn’t only limited to the classroom. It’s quite common for kids to learn from outdoor experiences. Teachers commonly take their pupils on field trips to museums as well as other interesting areas. If you wish to help pupils to take care of the ocean, one of the best areas to take them to is a marine association, the place where the ocean biome (生物圈) is shown.
Taking your pupils to a marine association is a prefect way to help them learn. Education professionals agree that there are topics that children can learn more successfully whenever they experience them directly.
Several organizations that focused on protecting the ocean now operate on the coast of different areas in America and all around the world. It’s quite common for marine associations nowadays to open their doors several times a week to kids, parents, and ocean lovers to learn more about the ocean biome.
A marine association has different programs for children of different ages. You’ll find programs that are developed specially for pupils. Pupils are involved in interactive (互动的) learning. This learning experience allows young children to recognize the value of the role each species performs in their environment. They not only get to research creatures from the ocean, but they also get to see, touch, and smell most of these animals and plants. This type of exposure offers students an idea about the life of a marine scientist. It could help them choose a career afterwards.
These programs are generally held on Saturdays and Sundays in order that kids and parents can have more hours in which to have fun. Teachers who want to arrange these activities for their students can call a local marine association near them.
1.According to the text, pupils can have a better understanding of the ocean biome by _______.
A．learning about it from books
B．going to a marine association
C．attending marine biologists’ meetings
D．taking part-time jobs at marine associations
2.In Paragraph 5, the author mainly wants to tell us _______.
A．the advantage of learning at a marine association
B．different activities offered by a marine association
C．a marine association’s working conditions
D．the way to develop children’s interest in ocean
3.The underlined word “exposure” in Paragraph 5 probably means _______.
A．the way of explaining something
B．the way of choosing a career
C．a marine association’s working condition
D．the way to develop children’s interest in the ocean
4.Which of the following is TURE?
A．Young children can enjoy indirectly what it is like to be a marine biologist at a marine association.
B．To help your pupils to take care of the ocean, the best area to take them to is a marine association.
C．Children can learn the topics more successfully when they experience them directly.
D．A marine association has the same program for children of different ages.
5.The text is most probably taken from _______.
A．a teacher’s presentation
B．a marine biologist’s report
C．a student’s field trip journal
D．an introduction to a marine association
Nowadays more and more young athletes are taking part in the risky activities called “extreme sports” or “X-sports”.
In the past young athletes would play baseball. Today, they want risk and excitement — the closer to the edge, the better. They snowboard over cliff and hike deep mountains.
Extreme sports started as an alternative to more expensive sports such as golf. A city kid who couldn’t afford expensive sports equipment could get a skateboard and have fun. But now it has become a whole new area of sports, with specialized equipment and high levels of skill. There is even an Olympics for extreme sports, called the winter x-game, which includes snow mountain hiking and ice climbing.
What makes extreme sports so popular? Maybe it’s because people love the risk. City people want to be outdoors on the weekends and do something challenging. The new equipment is so much better that people can take more risks without getting hurt. Sure there’s a risk. Once you go mountain hiking or snowboarding, it’s impossible to go back to have riding or skiing. It’s just too boring.
Now even the older crowd is starting to join in. Every weekend, groups of friends in their early 30s get together. On weekdays they work as computer programmers in the same office. On weekends they hike mountains together.
Extreme sports are certainly not for everyone. Most people still prefer to play basketball or watch sports on TV. But it has been a fact that extreme sports are gaining popularity.
1.Extreme sports started as an alternative to more expensive sports because _______.
A．people didn’t like to play golf
B．some city kids couldn’t afford expensive sports equipment
C．there is an Olympics for extreme sports
D．extreme sports are gaining popularity
2.More and more young athletes are taking part in extreme sports because _______.
A．people want risk and excitement
B．it’s impossible to go back to have riding or skiing
C．people can take more risks without getting hurt
D．the older crowd is starting to join in
3.To have extreme sports, you should _______.
A．have specialized equipment and high levels of skill
B．be very young at age
C．do snow mountain hiking and ice climbing
D．afford expensive sports equipment
4.The author gives the example of the computer programmers in the same office to show _______.
A．young people love risks
B．they can’t afford golf
C．they don’t like to play basketball or watch sports on TV
D．extreme sports are gaining popularity
5.The main idea of this passage is _______.
A．extreme sports are certainly not for everyone
B．the benefits and costs of extreme sports
C．the development of extreme sports
D．what makes extreme sports so popular
Steve Jobs on life and death
When I was 17, I read a quote （引述） that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, some day you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an 1 on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every 2 and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the 3 has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to 4 something.
Remembering that I’ll be 5 soon is the most important tool I’ve ever used to help me make the big 6 in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all 7 of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is 8 important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to 9 . You are already naked. There is no reason not to 10 your heart.
Your time is limited, so don’t 11 it living someone else’s life. Don’t be 12 by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most importantly, have the 13 to follow your beliefs and goals. They somehow already know what you really want to 14 . Everything else is 15 .
1. A．expectation B．impression C．imagination D．examination
2. A．minute B．night C．day D．week
3. A．answer B．solution C．result D．chance
4. A．accept B．hide C．change D．avoid
5. A．famous B．dead C．old D．forgotten
6. A．decisions B．contributions C．differences D．mistakes
7. A．understanding B．certainty C．fear D．knowledge
8. A．mostly B．hardly C．nearly D．truly
9. A．take B．lose C．give D．win
10. A．break B．catch C．warm D．follow
11. A．waste B．imagine C．spend D．risk
12. A．confused B．trapped C．discouraged D．hurt
13. A．wisdom B．idea C．desire D．courage
14. A．see B．show C．become D．forget
15. A．necessary B．natural C．secondary D．possible
— Nowadays when people talk about magicians，the first one that comes into their mind is Liu Qian.
— Absolutely！I’m sure ________else can match him.
A．nobody B．someone C．anyone D．nothing
To keep healthy, Professor Johnson ________ cycling as a regular form of exercise after he retired.
A．carried out B．caught on C．took up D．made for
